The victim, in his 40s, was hit a number of times in the shooting at a home in the Boherboy area of Saggart late last night.

Gardai said the man was taken to Tallaght hospital where he was pronounced dead shortly before midnight.

The alarm was raised at about 11pm last night and gardai first on the scene found the man inside the house with a number of gunshot wounds to his upper body.

The house where the shooting occurred has been sealed off for a forensic examination which will take place this morning.

Gardai appealed for witnesses or anyone with information to contact officers at Clondalkin Garda Station.

The dead man has been named locally as Andy Connors.

The shooting occurred at the man's newly-built home. Construction work on external walls surrounding the property had not been complete with building materials lying at the front of the house.

The home had also been wired for CCTV cameras with four positions fixed to external walls.

It is understood the dead man's wife and their four children were in the house when the gun attack took place.

Garda investigations are centring on the victim's criminal background as he had convictions for burglary and theft-related offences and on whether a lone gunman was aided in the killing by a getaway driver.

Mr Connors, 45, was jailed for 10 months in late 2012 for an attempted robbery at a home in Cork. During the trial a garda gave evidence that improved journey times on the M8 motorway made parts of the south west a target for gangs operating out of Dublin.

It is understood he was being targeted by the Garda's Operation Fiacla, set up to combat the rising number of serious burglaries being committed by highly mobile gangs targeting different areas of the country .

Mr Connors had also made a substantial settlement with the Criminal Assets Bureau after being investigated for tax issues over alleged unexplained income.

He died about an hour after suffering a number of gunshot wounds to his upper body and chest from a handgun.

A post-mortem examination will take place at Tallaght hospital to establish the exact cause of death and reveal the full extent of his injuries.